Got to hand it to MLB, the Sox franchise has lost fans six years straight...yet they schedule 16 home games in April for them. Amazing isn't it??? Talk about not being willing to help...and folks wonder why the Sox are pissed off at the schedule makers every year.

Lip

Or Sox management gets proactive and does something like Boston did.

"Those cuts in concession prices — kids can eat free, beers will cost as little as $5, among other things — are a thank you to the fans who do brave the New England weather for one of Boston’s 17 April home games"

I am curious why Gillaspie was brought in as a defense replacement for Paul in the 9th. How much has the guy played 1st? Is Paul hurt?

I believe I read somewhere that Konerko has the worst range amongst all MLB first baseman. Perhaps Robin wanted to guard the lines against a double in the ninth? I suspect you will see alot of Conor as a late inning defensive replacement for Paulie.

Sale Peavy can stack 1-2 with any two from team history if they pitch up to potential. A healthy Danks is as good a 3 as we can hope for and Floyd and Quintana at 4-5 are simply nuts.

I also add in the bullpen is as deep and experienced as we've had in a long time.

This staff can be as good as the 2005 squad, IMO.

I like your optimism, but I think there's a pretty big drop off after Sale and Peavy (who are a great 1-2). Floyd has been inconsistent his entire career and I don't expect that to change this year. Quintana is still a question mark to me and the jury is still out on whether he can be a solid starter over the long haul. As far as Danks goes, it's really up in the air if he can come back to his old level of effectiveness any time soon.

He makes some good plays, and is a little better than you might think considering his range...but range is really important. Most defensive metrics aren't too kind to him.

Range is overrated for 1B, IMO, which is why Konerko is usually undervalued defensively. Sure, it's nice to have a 1B who can pick a ball off the line and save a double once every week when that happens but from your 1B defensively, it's more important to have a guy who shields the rest of the IF from errors with solid gloveplay at 1B, which I think Konerko remains excellent at.

I don't "believe" there is an anti-Sox agenda from the schedule makers per se. I do think they are getting the short end of the stick because that is what is being relayed to me by folks in the front office.

Take it for whatever that's worth to you. They don't like it, and based on what I see I think they have a case.

Sox attendence is going to be basically zero the rest of those April home games unless the weather warms up. Now think about this, you've got a franchise that has lost fans for six straight seasons...that's a fact. So what does MLB do?

They give them 16 April home games...in Chicago...in April. How dumb does someone have to be? To say nothing of the construction that is also going to have an impact on getting to the game.

Now it's also a fact (as told to me by an individual in the Sox front office), that when Cleveland was struggling with attendence MLB for example slated the Yankees twice during the summer on a weekend in order to help out.

Do you see this kind of help in regards to the Sox?

Didn't think so.

Maybe I'm wrong...maybe the Sox will have 20 thousand actual fans in the seats for all the remaining April home games but I'd be willing to make you a wager they don't. This franchise is struggling getting fans in the seats...this doesn't help matters does it?

Regarding the Royals all I can say is that they've had what, one winning season in a decade, we keep hearing every season about all this great young talent and then we see the results. They get lit up like a Christmas tree by everyone BUT the Sox.

Frustrating and embarassing... to say nothing of the fact it cost the Sox a playoff spot.

This offense is probably going to be sporadic this year as others have already said so it's not just me. And besides I said I gave the offense a mulligan yesterday because it was so damn cold. Don't know what more you want?

I'm relaying what I'm being told from the Sox. I don't think MLB is deliberately trying to screw the Sox but someone in scheduling isn't thinking this through and the Sox are getting the short end over it. The Sox aren't getting concerned because they have nothing better to do with their time are they?

I don't see how slating 16 home games in April in cold miserable weather is going to benefit a franchise that is having attendence issues.

That doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it does to you however, if that's the case, so be it.

I don't "believe" there is an anti-Sox agenda from the schedule makers per se. I do think they are getting the short end of the stick because that is what is being relayed to me by folks in the front office.

Take it for whatever that's worth to you. They don't like it, and based on what I see I think they have a case.

Sox attendence is going to be basically zero the rest of those April home games unless the weather warms up. Now think about this, you've got a franchise that has lost fans for six straight seasons...that's a fact. So what does MLB do?

They give them 16 April home games...in Chicago...in April. How dumb does someone have to be? To say nothing of the construction that is also going to have an impact on getting to the game.

Now it's also a fact (as told to me by an individual in the Sox front office), that when Cleveland was struggling with attendence MLB for example slated the Yankees twice during the summer on a weekend in order to help out.

Do you see this kind of help in regards to the Sox?

Didn't think so.

Maybe I'm wrong...maybe the Sox will have 20 thousand actual fans in the seats for all the remaining April home games but I'd be willing to make you a wager they don't. This franchise is struggling getting fans in the seats...this doesn't help matters does it?

Lip

If the White Sox organization is concerned about early season attendance, instead of complaining about the schedule, maybe they should run this organization in such a way that they make the playoffs more than once every 5 years or so.

I don't care what MLB did for Cleveland. Chicago (the city) is not Cleveland. The Sox are a major market team and their biggest problem is that they pissed away the boost they got from 2005 thanks to their performance on the field (especially after 2008). Years of the team falling on their face to start the season, letting a manager stick around who has already quit on the team and who throws fans under the bus, year after year of fizzling out late in the season.

IMO, anyone in the Sox organization who wants to point to the MLB schedule as their problem should be ashamed of themselves.

IMO, anyone in the Sox organization who wants to point to the MLB schedule as their problem should be ashamed of themselves.

Agreed. It's the White Sox's problem and no one elses.

People need to stop living in the old days where weather, etc. made a difference. It was 36 degrees yesterday, and the game was a sell out. Why?Those tickets were already sold. Selling season tickets is what drives up attendance and that's that. the Sox season ticket base isn't very high. They were in contention for the division last year, and didn't even break the 2 million mark. 25K people aren't going to wake up one day and decide to come to the game. If you have to depend on walk ups, you simply aren't going to cut it.

Since someone in the Sox front office had an issue with the scheduling, I'm sure we will hear the ol Hawk claim it's a conspiracy and the whole world is against the Sox.

Sox won't draw until June anyway and they have the majority of their May games on the road. Random fluke, IMO. No one wants home games in April except for the very best drawing teams and even they don't sell out those games due to weather and kids still being in school.

__________________Riding shotgun on the Sox bandwagon since before there was an Internet...